海底两万里 第17期 第2章 正与反(6)

If, on the other hand, we do know every living species.

这说法还是比较今人情服的。

We must look for the animal in question among those marine creatures already cataloged, and in this event I would be inclined to accept the existence of a giant narwhale.

反过来，如果我们的确认识了地球上所有的生物，那么我们就必须从已经加以分类的海洋生物中找出我们讨论的这个动物;在这种情形下，我就要承认有一种巨大的独角鲸的存在。

The common narwhale, or sea unicorn, often reaches a length of sixty feet.

普通常见的独角鲸，或海麒麟，身长常常达到六十英尺，

Increase its dimensions fivefold or even tenfold, then give this cetacean a strength in proportion to its size while enlarging its offensive weapons, and you have the animal we're looking for.

现在如果把这长度增加五倍，甚至十倍，同时让这条鲸、鱼类动物有和它身材戊比例的力量，再加强它的攻击武器，这样就是现在海上的那个动物了。

It would have the proportions determined by the officers of the Shannon, the instrument needed to perforate the Scotia, and the power to pierce a steamer's hull.

也就是说它有山农号军官们所测定的长度那么长，它的角，可以刺穿斯各脱亚号、它的力量可以冲破一只汽船的船壳。

In essence, the narwhale is armed with a sort of ivory sword, or lance, as certainnaturalists have expressed it.

诚然，这条独角鲸，如某些生物学家所说，是具有一把：骨质的剑或一把骨质的乾，

It's a king-sized tooth as hard as steel.

那么这一定是一根像钢铁一样：

Some of these teeth have been found buried in the bodies of baleen whales, which the narwhale attacks with invariable success.

坚硬的长牙，有人曾经在鲸鱼身上发现过独角鲸的牙齿，。独角鲸用牙齿攻击鲸鱼总是成功的。

Others have been wrenched, not without difficulty, from the undersides of vesselsthat narwhales have pierced clean through, as a gimlet pierces a wine barrel.

有人也曾经从船底上拨出过,好容易才找出来,独角鲸的牙齿，它钻通船底就好像利锥穿透木桶那样。

The museum at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris owns one of these tusks with a length of 2.25 meters and a width at its base of forty-eight centimeters!

巴黎医学院陈列馆就藏有一枚这种牙齿，长两米二十五厘米，底宽四十八厘米!